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A pagan/Wiccan altar is a sacred space with spiritual objects used for meditation, spells, ritual, divination, prayers, visualisations and connecting to deity. It is an important part of neo-paganism and wicca. Here's how to make one yourself.

Steps

1

Decide whether you want an outdoor or indoor altar. Your altar can be anywhere. Some have a natural altar outside or take portable altar items into their garden. This gives you a close connection to mother nature. However if you don't have a garden or this is impractical you can have an indoor altar. If your altar will be indoors, choose a room to have it in. Many choose a bedroom because this is a private room that is easy to relax in.

2

Consider the direction your altar should be in. East facing altars are common because east is where the sun rises, and it is the traditional direction of Christian churches and masonic temples. Another popular choice is North or North-East, and many Pagans instinctively pick it. Lots of rituals are said to start with the practitioner facing North. You can also have your altar in the direction of your element. So air for east, fire for south, water for west, north for earth and center for spirit.

3

Find a place to set up your altar. You can keep your altar on a dresser or table if you want a permanent one or one with lots of heavy items. Other places are drawers, bookcases (though this means you can't have candles under the wood), trays, tree stumps and windowsills. You can also have an altar box, so your objects are kept safe and private from others if you live in a busy household. You can take the items out and place them on top of the box when in use. Choose somewhere that feels right for you. Use your intuition.

4

Choose the style of your altar. If you are heavily influenced by Celtic paganism then maybe you will use Celtic deities like Brigid. If you have native American beliefs with your Wicca practise then you may choose some of their symbolism on your altar. Consider your personal practise and how your altar reflects you and your spirituality.

5

Decide on the items you will use for the goddess. The goddess side represents the moon, divine feminine, right brain (left half of the body), unconscious and night time. Items used for the goddess may be:

A semi large candle with a color you best think represents the Goddess. Cold colours like blue, green, purple and silver are often used.

A statue that represents the Goddess. This can be any goddess: Isis, the moon goddess, or statues from a Greek goddess like Hestia; it depends on what goddess calls you. You can also use totem animals of the goddess like a hare, cat, owl or other lunar animals.

Decide on the items you will use for the God side. The god side is symbolic of the divine masculine, sun, elements fire and air, yang, daytime, conscious and left brain (right half of the body). Things that you might want to put on the God side would be:

A semi large candle which color you think bests represents the God (e.g. warm colours like yellow, gold, red, orange)

A statue which represents the God, such as the green man, Lugh, Osiris, Herne, solar imagery, or masculine totem animal like a stag or goat

Object for the 2 masculine elements. For example, fire = red/orange colours, wand or athame/boline (if you have a wand for fire than your athame would be for air and vice versa), candle, incense, teeth, claws (but don't hurt animals to obtain it!), ash or oil burner; air = yellow/white/silver colours, Athame, Boline, wand, incense, feathers.

Any divination tools

A few other objects that are sacred and special to you

7

Decide what to put in the middle/center of the Altar. You can have:

Your matron/patron deity you work most with. If you don't know your deity yet then you can just put the ones you are currently working with.

It really doesn't matter. You can have as much or as little on your alter as you like. There is no right or wrong way. Having god and goddess representation as well as a representation of the elements is traditional but just use that as a guideline and follow what you think looks/feels right.

I don't really have many magical items on me at this moment, so for now my altar is multi-use (it's an old work table I borrowed). The top shelf is the altar, but i also keep my pagan books/empty perfume bottles there. Is that okay, or do the perfume bottles substract meaning to the altar?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

If you feel it subtracts meaning from your altar or if they feel wrong standing near your altar, you should put them elsewhere. If you have no problem with them standing there and don't feel like there is negative energy around your altar, you don't have to move them.

Generally, people prefer to have a surface or drawer or what have you dedicated solely to their altar, but whatever you can use should fine, as long as your altar is assembled with love and respect. If it still doesn't feel right to you, then put a little bit of money to the side and save up for something inconspicuous you can use, like an end table or a bedside table or a small bookshelf or something; check secondhand stores like the Salvation Army to save yourself some money. If you like to keep your tools hidden, shave a chest with a lock to keep your tools in (like candles, pentacle, etc). Good luck and blessed be.

My mother forbade me to practice Wicca. How do I convince her that my true calling is to be a witch?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

Tell her that Wicca is a nature-based religion. We do not worship Satan and are totally against harming others and ourselves. You can show her some videos or books about Wicca so she can see what it's about. If your mom still won't let you, you will have to respect her and wait until you move out on your own to practice Wicca.

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wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 22 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time.